Katrina Burns + Tara Campbell

Katrina Burns + Tara Campbell

In a New Year’s resolution to spend more time together, friends Katrina and Tara decided to transition from solo baking to tackling new baking adventures together. In March 2016, they started making macarons and people quickly became interested. Within a month of starting, local coffee shop Concord Coffee was asking the duo to sell their macarons out of their storefront, so Katrina and Tara started Katara Confectionery. They are now selling more than 1,000 macarons a month and are already expanding to other products.

What is your business? Local coffee shops, event planners, and restaurants. We love supporting other entrepreneurs!

Who are your clients? Businesses who emphasize the quality of customer experience and affluent families celebrating life’s big moments.

What inspired you to become an entrepreneur? Our city! We weren’t planning on starting a business, but the people of Lakeland encouraged us to do it! We’re so thankful.

Hardest thing about starting your business? We didn’t plan to start Katara. There was a need for our product before we were even a company, so we had to get a lot figured out in a very short period of time.

Something interesting? We are working to be locally sustainable. We have local suppliers for our eggs, honey, and blueberries and are actively working towards more!

Favorite things to do in Lakeland? Seeing friends + family at Concord Coffee, A Kind Place, Art Centric Studio and other Dixieland spots, playing at the local parks with my son (Katrina), and the Christmas Parade.

Why Lakeland? We LOVE Lakeland. The community and giving spirit encourages us every day. We’ve seen Lakeland grow and we’re so proud of where our city is headed.

How has Catapult helped you? Catapult has given our business the foundation we were desperate for. It’s been a place for us to receive answers and help for things we didn’t even know we needed. It’s a valuable resource for Lakeland’s community!

Secret Sauce? We are practically sisters and have complementary talents: Katrina is business-minded, Tara is people-minded. Also, cookies are one of the happiest things in the world. We literally dance when we pull them out of the oven.